Frozen Insanity
by TheOddOneIsHere
Summary: A boy with the ice release and extreme OCD... things might get a bit messy. Re-upload of the previous Frozen Insanity, but improved. Rated M for possible gore and language.
1. Chapter 1

This, my friends, is an edited version of the older Frozen Insanity I wrote.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any Naruto related thing other than my ideas.

Chapter 1, Beginning of the Frost

(Konoha, Nine years after the Kyuubi attack)

A small boy rocked back and forth on the ground, hugging his knees to his chest. He's wearing a black hoodie and dark grey sweatpants. His shoes were more like soft leather boots than shinobi sandals. They too were black. The hood was pulled over his head, but white locks of hair with ice blue tips were visible. The visible part of the boy's face was a very pale color, his eyes an ice blue, cold towards everything. From his nose and downwards, he has a black face-mask. The boy's hands were covered by black gloves with a silver plate atop the hand.

_They_ tortured him. _They_ made him what he was. _They_ told him he was a monster, demon, devil, and destroyer. He had memories from when he was born, looking at his infant self from high above. His claws slashing about, slicing through entire buildings and people, stabbing into people. His tails thrashing about, destroying the nearby forest and buildings, and occasionally killing somebody. His large fury hands would reach down, pick somebody up, and then pop them into his mouth while he bit down on their mid-section with his giant teeth.

_They_ kept him from sleeping. If he slept, _they_ would drag him into _their_ cage and torture him.

The boy stopped rocking back and forth, leaned forwards, and grabbed a book, flipping it open. The title read: '_Advanced chakra natures and Kekkei genkai_'

The room was actually fairly large. In the corner, a neat bed lay, not even a crinkle in its sheets. The sheets were a plain grey. The only window in the room is covered by a black curtain, sewed shut and nailed to the edges of the window on the wall. Bookshelves made up the areas near the walls, stacked full of books of all shapes and sizes. The books seemed to be sorted by what they are used for. The middle of the room only had a black mat over the light grey carpet. The room was spotless, yet filled with a sense of perfection, depression, fear, and sorrow. The entire place smelled of cleaning supplies. One would crinkle their nose as it stung from how heavy the scent fell across the apartment.

The door of the room is a door painted as dark grey with a silver handle to it. A knock came from the door.

The boy ignored it, hoping that the man would go away.

"Naruto-kun, open the door please." An old man's voice spoke from the other side of the door. The boy glanced up at the door, which was held shut by the large amount of locks and padlocks. There were even a few black metal bolts holding the door shut.

The boy, now identified as Naruto, thought about it. If he didn't open the door, the man on the other side might break it open, and likely hurt Naruto. _They_ would punish him if he got hurt by another person. However, Naruto didn't get up to open the door. Once again, he wished the man would leave.

This, however, didn't go as he wanted. The man suddenly appeared in a blur, right in-front of the door.

He was an old brown-haired man. The man has white robes and a white hat with the kanji for 'fire' on it.

Naruto smoothed down his hood and kept reading, trying his best to ignore the man. The man, however, sighed and walked towards Naruto. Stooping down a little, the man read the title on the page.

"Ice release, hm?"

Naruto paused reading and cupped his hands together. A dark grey mist hovered around Naruto's hands as something rose from his palms. The object was dark grey in color. It reflected the slight amount of light in the room off of it, showing its smooth surface, all the while freezing the air around it.

The old man stared at the boy with wide eyes.

"That is amazing, Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded slightly. The object in Naruto's hands slowly sunk back into Naruto's palms, as if it never existed in the first place. Naruto smoothed down his hood and continued reading, trying to ignore the man in the room.

The man nodded, seemingly satisfied. He walked over to the window and looked in-between a gap in the middle of the black curtain and the wall. Small amounts of light broke through. However, the light was dimmed greatly. The grey-tinted windows let less light pass through than a normal window would. Sighing, the old man turned back to Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, you should go to the academy. Maybe make some friends. It isn't healthy to stay in here all the time." The old man said, and then vanished via Shunshin. Naruto closed his book gently. Getting up, he set the book down and walked to the door. Quickly, he unlocked the door as if he had done it a thousand times. He walked through the rest of the apartment towards the exit. Along the way, he passed his bathroom, washing room, kitchen, living room, and dining room. Each room had white tiled floors, white walls, and black counters or black leather furniture. Once again, the air was thick and heavy with the scent of detergent. The scent alone was enough to give anybody a headache. Not that Naruto didn't already have one, anyways.

The apartment itself could make anybody feel as if they were intruding upon absolute perfection. The entire apartment was spotless. Arriving at the door, Naruto once again started unlocking it. This door, just like the one to his room, was littered with locks of all kinds. Padlocks, deadbolts, a cam lock, rim latch locks, and various other types of locks scattered all over the door around the edges.

Naruto slinked his way to the academy in the early morning light. He knew he had to get to the academy, otherwise the old man would appear once more to torment him. _They_ murmured in agreement, urging him to go.

Arriving at the academy was less than pleasant for Naruto. Other children kept away from him, the scent of cleaning detergent getting stronger the closer you got to him, the scent strong enough to make their eyes watery and noses sting.

Walking up to the desk at the front of the academy, Naruto quickly, and quietly, pulled some papers from his hoodie and set them on the desk. The woman behind the desk eyed him slowly before taking the papers. A few moments passed before she stood up and walked out from behind the desk, beckoning Naruto to follow.

Following the woman, Naruto took note of his surroundings. They passed several doors as they walked down a long hallway, the sound of children chattering in some or a teacher lecturing his class in others. Finally, the woman stopped next to a door. She opened it and ushered him inside.

There were many other children. Oh, how he hated this already. Children were loud, annoying, and unclean. Three things that Naruto hated with a passion. Standing at the front of the room, however, was a young adult with a scar across the bridge of his nose. Perhaps this person was the teacher.

"Iruka, this is your new student." The woman behind Naruto had a low voice, oozing with irritation and sleep deprivation. She turned and slammed the door on the way out. Iruka nodded, picking up a clipboard on his desk. Scanning through it, Naruto noticed him pause at several instances.

Looking up, Iruka gave a fake smile to Naruto, hiding his grimace underneath. He couldn't hide it from Naruto. Naruto would always be able to see the disgust and hatred others felt towards him, no matter how hard they tried to hide it.

"Alright class be nice. This here is your new… classmate. His name is Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka said, quieting the whole class. They noticed a young boy, somewhere around their age, standing next to Iruka. They couldn't even see his face. The hood covered a lot, excluding the few locks of white and ice-blue hair they saw. What the hood couldn't cover, the facemask the boy wore covered.

Instead of introducing himself, Naruto smoothed down his hood and stared at the ground. This surprised many in the class. Who was this new child, thinking that he could ignore their sensei as he pleased?

Just as Iruka opened his mouth to speak, Naruto spoke.

"I am Naruto… I like nothing. I dislike…" Naruto stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Uncleanliness, noise, and everything else…"

His voice was cracked, revealing that it had seen little use.

Iruka nodded dumbly. "That's… great, Naruto. You may go find an empty seat and sit down."

Naruto smoothed his hood down once more and walked down the middle of the room, up the stairs, until he stopped at the middle row. As he passed by, the other children leaned away from him, the scent of cleaning detergent lathered all over Naruto made their eyes watery and noses sting. Naruto walked to the window, having found an empty chair, and sat down. He smoothed his hood down as Iruka started talking once more.

An hour passed by. Naruto hadn't really showed that he payed any attention to Iruka's lecture to the class. As if to test him, Naruto lifted his head slightly as Iruka barked out his name.

"Would you be so kind as to explain what chakra is?" Iruka said, his voice hiding his anger. Iruka hoped to catch the boy in a tight spot for not paying attention to the lecture. Instead, he was surprised at the response given to him.

Naruto smoothed his hood down again and started speaking.

"Chakra… chakra is made of physical and spiritual energy combined, otherwise known as yin and yang. It… it can be used to speed up the process at which something heals or to perform jutsu. In addition-" Naruto was cut off when Iruka held up his hand.

"That's good enough Naruto." Iruka said, still surprised from the textbook-like answer he received.

"Well then… let's head outside. We're going to spar, so I can see how well each of you do in taijutsu." Nearly everybody groaned. Naruto shrunk further into his seat. The class stood up from their seats and walked single file out of the room. Naruto hesitantly got up, and ended up being the last person in line. Iruka led the front of the group, leading them through hallway after hallway.

Finally, the group walked through an exit into a clearing behind the academy. The clearing had a fairly large pond off to the right, training posts off to the left, and a thin strip of track surrounding the whole thing. Iruka turned and stopped, and everybody also came to a stop, starting to form a small crowd.

"Remember the rules. Disobey them, and I will _personally_ make sure you cannot use the shinobi arts, _ever_. Am I clear?" Iruka said in a warning tone. The class murmured in agreement while Naruto smoothed down his hood again, noting that nobody stood within a five-meter radius around him.

"Alright. When I call your name, please come over to me."

At that, the students were called up in pairs, and fought each-other. A couple of civilians thought the rules didn't apply to them for whatever reason, and were sent back home.

An hour into this, only four people hadn't sparred yet.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke! Come up." Iruka said. Naruto saw a boy with black hair walk up to Iruka. Slowly, Naruto also walked to Iruka. The two boys faced each other from four meters away.

Iruka looked between the two boys. Nodding his head, he shouted. "Begin!"

With that, Sasuke rushed at Naruto, opting to go for a basic punch. Naruto moved his head to the side, letting the fist fly by harmlessly. Then, Naruto dropped to the ground, swinging his leg around in a full circle, knocking Sasuke off his feet. Naruto then did a backwards summersault away, sliding back into his fighting stance.

Sasuke stood up, brushing dirt off of him as he glared at Naruto, and charged once more. Right before Sasuke could get close enough to attack, Naruto slid right in-front of Sasuke and kicked him… in the chin. The kick launched Sasuke backwards, making him land with a heavy "thud" noise on the dirt. Iruka looked and saw Naruto, still frozen in place, with his foot all the way up in the air, making it look like he was doing the splits… vertically.

Growling, Sasuke got back up and charged once more. This time, right as he got close enough, Sasuke ducked to the right just as Naruto's foot came down in an axe kick, swiping through empty air. Taking advantage of the opening given to him, Sasuke punched Naruto in the arm and then kicked him in the stomach, sending Naruto back a meter or two.

Naruto stood and dropped into his stance once more, waiting for Sasuke to come to him.

He didn't have to wait long. Sasuke charged in once again but opted to duck to the left this time. However, Naruto was ready. Instead of being able to follow up with his punch and then kick to the stomach combo, Sasuke received a chop to the throat. Following his attack up, Naruto spun around whilst lifting his foot, only to perform an axe kick on Sasuke's shoulder. The attack thrust Sasuke onto the ground, so that he was sprawled out and dazed.

No matter how hard he tried, however, Sasuke just couldn't get up.

Naruto stared at Sasuke as he smoothed down his hood once more. _They_ wanted him to take advantage of the situation and kill the child before Naruto. A wave of pain rushed to his head as he held _Them_ off. Iruka walked forwards and helped Sasuke up, who was still glaring at Naruto. Not that Naruto noticed anyways.

"Uzumaki Naruto is the winner."

And thus, the rest of his time at the academy began.

(A/N Section):

Hello. As I mentioned in my profile, I am going through and re-writing Frozen Insanity. I made many mistakes, all of which I will do my best to fix.

Cya.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, hello again. This is the second edited chapter. Once again, the disclaimer that I don't own any part of the Naruto franchise applies. I will not repeat it in future chapters, since I have now said it at least twice.

(Onwards to the story)

Two years had passed since Naruto had joined the academy. He had shown startling growth… if it could be called that.

Naruto had continued on in his usual manner. He'd show up two minutes late nearly every day, take his seat in the middle, and then he'd seemingly ignore what was being taught for the rest of the day. The others often either hated him, feared him, or just left him alone for other reasons. Nobody ever sat near him due to the strong scent of disinfectant and cleaning supplies.

Iruka had tried multiple times to get Naruto to talk. However, each time, Naruto just ignored Iruka and smoothed down his hood. Soon, it became evident who the best of the class was and who wasn't among this group. Sasuke Uchiha was among this group, as expected, but Naruto was ahead of him. When it came to tests and quizzes, nobody could top Naruto and his textbook-like answers. Iruka had learned to stop having Naruto participate in the taijutsu matches since Naruto often didn't stop even after the other child was down.

Naruto had only slightly changed in appearance. His hair had grown slightly longer, to the point where it almost covered both eyes. The ice-blue tips in his hair had slowly changed to a light grey whilst turning darker, slowly, over time. It was hard to tell if the boy had grown taller or not, since Naruto was hunched over most of the time. Naruto had also changed the clothes he wore to allow better movement and such. He now wore a dark grey sleeveless hoodie with an ice blue and black Uzumaki swirl on the back. A skin-tight black long-sleeved shirt could be seen with dark grey bandages wrapped around the forearms of the sleeves. Black shorts ended just below his knees while dark grey bandages wrapped around his shins. Instead of the normal shinobi sandals, which exposed the toes and other parts of the foot, Naruto used black leather shoes that offered little protection between his feet and the ground below.

As for equipment and weapons, Naruto had two small, yet compact, senbon holsters at his right hip. The holsters were made in such a way so that the senbon wouldn't rattle inside and make noise. Attached to his other hip was a compact shuriken holster, made in the same manner as the senbon holsters, and another contraption next to it. It was the same size as the shuriken holster, but the top of it fed out a black and shine-less wire.

Iruka could confidently say that he had the best student in the history of the academy, or so it seemed. Sure, the boy didn't listen to Iruka, but he was the top of the class, skilled in taijutsu and Shurikenjutsu. Although, Naruto could use some work when it came to genjutsu. Nonetheless, Naruto showed signs of an early graduation. Though, Naruto would have to work on his communication skills if he was going to graduate and be put on a team.

As usual, Iruka walked into the classroom with a clipboard in one hand and some folders tucked under his other arm.

Glancing at the clock, Iruka waited for Naruto to arrive. Naruto's habit of arriving exactly two minutes late everyday irritated Iruka, but overtime, he grew used to it.

Soon, Naruto walked in and sat in his seat, smoothing down his hood and ignoring the occasional glances sent his way by some of the other students.

"Today, we have a… special activity. We will be testing you all to see if any of you are ready to graduate early." At Iruka's announcement, the class perked up in excitement. Naruto only smoothed his hood down again, praying for his headache to vanish.

Waiting for the room to quiet, Iruka spoke once more when the noise ceased. "There will be a written exam, target practice, sparring, and finally ninjutsu. Only the best of the best will be able to pass the requirements and graduate early."

Many students groaned in response.

Iruka held up his hand. "Hey, don't feel bad if you don't pass. It's normal if you don't pass, since the bulk of you will be graduating at the usual age. This isn't something new, since we tend to test each class two years in to try and find any early-bloomers."

With that, Iruka passed out the exam papers, signaling the start of the quiz. There was no time-limit to this quiz, unlike normal quizzes. This one was timed, to see how fast the students could find the correct answers.

Almost an hour had passed by the time the last student finished. Iruka led the class outside for the next portion. This test passed fairly quickly, since all you really had to do was hit a target. The class showed improvement, seeing as how most of the students could actually hit the target. Very few of them even hit the middle. Only the Uchiha and the Uzumaki could hit the middle each time. Naruto had visibly improved, since he could now use enough force to make the shuriken stick to the target instead of hitting it and falling to the ground.

During the sparring portion, things got a bit difficult for Naruto.

Iruka was the one the students had to spar against. A Chuunin against mere academy students.

However, considering it was a spar, it was an all-out thing for the academy students, who were allowed to use whatever was needed to win.

Naruto smoothed down his hood as he stared at Iruka.

"Go ahead when you are ready. But remember, this is timed." Iruka said, leveling a gentle smile. To be honest, this unnerved Iruka. He'd hide it, but Naruto always freaked him out. Naruto always smelled like disinfectant and cleaning detergent. Naruto always knew the answer to questions, always. He never talked with his classmates, instead preferring to smooth down his hood and whisper to himself.

Suddenly, Naruto ducked low and dashed forwards, far faster than Iruka had expected. Cursing to himself, Iruka kicked out at Naruto, who jumped over the kick, barely, and got up close.

Iruka noticed the ice forming in Naruto's hand, which was reared backwards, as if getting ready for a punch or getting ready to slash something with a knife. The ice quickly formed into a blade the size of a chokuto, held in reverse grip, as Naruto suddenly spun mid-air.

The blade of ice nearly caught Iruka, but he blocked it with a kunai and punched Naruto squarely in the chest, launching the small boy backwards. Naruto came to a rolling stop and dashed once more, ducked low.

Instead of his previous tactic of charging directly at Iruka, Naruto started to dash in circles around Iruka, hoping to confuse the man. However, Iruka saw through the tactic and kicked out to his side just in time to hit Naruto in the arm.

Naruto leapt backwards and threw three needles made of… ice?

The coloring threw Iruka off, but he could feel the temperature as he caught each one easily. The needles were freezing against his warm skin, slowly beginning to melt.

Iruka dropped the needles and rushed towards Naruto, attempting to axe-kick the boy. Naruto saw the kick coming, but couldn't dodge mid-air, so he got into the fetal position mid-air and ate up the blow to the back. Thudding off the ground, Naruto placed his hands on it and used it to twist himself around and swing a kick, heel first, at Iruka's chest.

The young man caught the heel in his hand and moved to kick Naruto once more. This time, Naruto was ready and rolled away to the side. He got up and backed away, forming another chokuto of grey ice in his hands.

Once again, Iruka dashed at Naruto to try and catch the boy off-guard. However, it was Naruto who did something unexpected. He dashed forwards at the last second, ducking under the arm that was raised to punch him, and ran behind Iruka. The chokuto of ice slammed against the Chuunin but did little to hurt the man.

Iruka twisted around and grabbed Naruto's upper-arm and threw the younger boy upwards. Taking the chance, Naruto let go of the chokuto and curled into a ball. Iruka moved backwards to avoid the vertically spinning kick Naruto tried to give him and then moved forwards to kick Naruto away.

The kick hid Naruto in the side, sending him flying. Landing with another thud, he got up and tried to run at Iruka once more, only to be stopped as the sound of a timer rang out.

Iruka nodded his head and pulled a clipboard out of nowhere and starting marking things on it. What he marked, Naruto couldn't see. Glancing upwards at Naruto, the Chuunin smiled gently once more.

"Congratulations, you passed this portion."

When the ninjutsu part came around, Naruto presented his knowledge of the three-basic academy jutsu and a solid transformation technique.

"Uh… Naruto… you already showed me that." Iruka gave Naruto a confused look. Naruto shook his head.

"Solid." Naruto's whisper was barely heard, but the message got through. Iruka gave Naruto a doubtful look and asked for Naruto to perform it once more. Again, Naruto transformed into a solid kunai. Iruka waved his hands above the kunai, expecting to hit the invisible outline of a person, but he hit solid air.

Raising an eyebrow, he picked up the kunai, inspecting it. Satisfied, he set it back down on the ground. A second later, with no puff of smoke, the kunai morphed back into Naruto quickly.

Iruka gave Naruto an expectant look, demanding an explanation.

"It isn't a transformation technique. I can go into a solid object and hide inside of it." Naruto's explanation gave Iruka a rush of adrenaline. The possibilities of such a jutsu were endless.

"Can you move while inside the object?" Iruka questioned Naruto, to which Naruto shook his head.

Naruto realized the rest of the class was staring at him, so he smoothed his hood down again and went back to his seat, ignoring the stares, and started to whisper to himself.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was getting old, that much he could tell. He glanced at the boy who knelt in-front of his desk.

"Get up. You have no need to bow, Naruto."

Naruto stood quickly. He really wished he wasn't there. Hiruzen always felt despair and depression whenever Naruto was around. The boy radiated misery like the sun produced light and heat.

"Congratulations on graduating, Naruto. You are the only one in your entire class to graduate early. You even started making Iruka put some effort into your spar." Hiruzen's voice was a little gravely.

The young boy before him had a strange specialization, which made Hiruzen unsure of where to place the young boy.

Naruto specialized in stealth and assassination and could hold his own long enough for backup to arrive in a taijutsu fight. Despite holding the Kyuubi, Naruto had rather small chakra reserves. His chakra control was at peak condition, his genjutsu could fool anybody who wasn't directly looking for him, and…

There was a problem.

Naruto didn't speak often, if ever, and when he did it was often whispering to himself. That made communication near impossible, which was the opposite of what was needed on teams. Teams needed to have good communication to run properly and get the job done efficiently.

Hiruzen also couldn't find a single reasonable Jounin or Special Jounin to try and make Naruto their apprentice. There were some options, yes, but they weren't ones he preferred.

There was Kakashi Hatake, but that young man had personal issues he was still dealing with. There, however, was one other option. Anko Mitarashi. The Special Jounin was skilled in poison techniques and was a budding specialist in torture and information gathering. The problem was her personality.

Anko was a very loud and brash individual, sometimes sadistic.

But she was the only option.

Sighing, Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose. "Come in, Anko."

A window shattered and a purple blur burst into the room.

A purple-haired woman stood there, clad in a trench coat and some rather provocative clothing. A banner hung from her shoulders, still waving a little bit from the sudden movement.

"Hello!" Anko greeted Hiruzen, her voice cheery and loud.

Hiruzen nodded. "Hello, Anko. This is Uzumaki Naruto. He is to be your apprentice for the time being, as we discussed earlier."

Anko looked at Naruto, who was staring at the ground while whispering to himself, smoothing his hood down every now and then. She looked back to Hiruzen.

"…Are you sure this is the right one? He seems broken." Anko looked back to Naruto and tapped him on the shoulder. Naruto flinched away at the sudden touch, looking up to see who touched him.

"Yeah, your kid is broken." Anko said frankly. She expected a nosebleed or something from the boy, due to her clothing choice. Instead Naruto backed away, smoothed down his hood, and continued to look at the ground.

Hiruzen sighed deeply.

"Naruto, would you leave for now, perhaps meet Anko on the roof of the academy later?"

Naruto nodded slightly and then vanished. Literally.

Turning to face the eccentric Special Jounin, Hiruzen spoke.

"Yes, he is… 'broken,' as you put it. I have chosen you because of your specialization and his specialization. He specializes in assassination or silent killing. Your skills would help him improve by leaps and bounds. Do you accept him as your apprentice?" Hiruzen stared firmly at Anko, who held her head up in thought for a moment.

"Sure."

(A/N section)

I have decided that in my re-try or redo of this story, I'd make a few changes, both minor and major, here and there.

Also, about the spar between Iruka and Naruto…

I've noticed a lot of people make Iruka seem weak. Keep in mind he is a Chuunin. That means he is inherently better than the academy students, regardless of their progress, by leaps and bounds. Sure, they can grow to be much more powerful than he is, but once again, he is a CHUUNIN!

I hate it when people make him seem weak just to power up their main character or somebody else in the academy. It sucks big time. He's a Chuunin for god's sake! That means he's at least decent!

I am done with my rant now.

On to the talk about Anko.

I have chosen her for multiple reasons.

Her personality is eccentric and loud, and it could potentially lead to some amusing situations. It's also to give me an excuse to make Naruto's character a tinge more open. This does NOT mean he'll stop having issues or that the issues will be reduced. He's insane and just because he'll be around an eccentric person does not mean he will stop being insane.

I had some things planned for the original Frozen Insanity, but reading over it, I realized I screwed up in several areas. Some areas, not as much. But some, yes.

Anyways, I'm done talking now. You may go on with the rest of your day in peace. Farewell, my fellow living creatures.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello and WELCOME TO CHAPTER 3

Yeah, I'm off my meds

LET'S DO THIS!

The early morning darkness slowly ebbing away made details on the rooftop of the academy clearer. Naruto sat with his knees to his chest, holding his head, whispering to himself. He didn't notice his slight rocking back and forth, or the silver haired man walking up behind him.

"Naruto, are you alright?"

The voice behind him fell on deaf ears. Naruto didn't notice the man until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Jerking away suddenly, Naruto saw his other teacher from the academy. The one called "Mizuki."

_They_ hated Mizuki. _They_ knew he was bad. Bad enough that _They_ constantly pestered Naruto with thoughts of murdering Mizuki. Each time the method of killing would be different and more horrific than the last, _Their_ thoughts pulsing against Naruto's skull like waves in a violent storm. Headache after headache.

Naruto stopped whispering to himself and silently looked at Mizuki. The man wanted something, obviously, but neither _They_ nor Naruto knew what.

"You know… you could be promoted to Chuunin rank really fast too…"

Mizuki's voice felt like a snake coiling and preparing to strike. Naruto knew better than to trust the man.

"All you'd have to do is steal the scroll of Forbidden Jutsu from the Hokage Tower." Mizuki grinned at Naruto a toothy grin. For a moment, each individual tooth looked razor sharp, like a tiger getting ready to eat its fallen prey.

Instead, Naruto gave into _Their_ commands and launched himself at the unsuspecting Mizuki, burying a kunai into Mizuki's chest.

Shocked, Mizuki stumbled backwards. "W-What?"

Naruto felt the headache fall back. The moment of bliss only increased when the scent of blood hit Naruto's nose. He stood up and walked over to Mizuki, not shaking or trembling for once.

"Y-You are the demon fox, huh." Mizuki coughed up some blood, his lungs starting to fill with blood.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man. The man got blood on him. When he got home, he'd have to wash his clothes thoroughly. Maybe 3 cycles through the washing machine before he even felt okay about his clothes, just to make sure the filth gets off.

Naruto stood across from Anko on the rooftop. His headache had been reduced, almost as if it had gone away. The feeling was pure bliss once the scent of blood hit him. _They_ reduced _Their_ constant murmuring and loud complaining to near silent whispers.

Anko watched Naruto smooth his hood down again and continue looking at the ground.

"Introduce yourself, brat." Anko's voice was amused. His answer might help her better understand his mental state or how he works.

Naruto remained silent, smoothing his hood down… yet again. Honestly, he had no need for this. Why couldn't he be a one-man squad and continue teaching himself? He could use his books, his only friends, to teach himself. It had gotten him this far, so why couldn't he keep using them to move forwards?

The Hokage. That man was the reason why Naruto couldn't do things his way. In that moment, Naruto could say he truly hated the Hokage.

Anko cleared her throat, brining Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Brat, I said introduce yourself!" Anko snarled, trying and failing to restrain herself. She cursed at herself on the inside. You don't show emotion when trying to draw somebody out so you can get _some_ idea of their mental state. However, she also realized, that you could gleam information based off what the person did _not_ do.

In the fifteen minutes they had been standing there, Anko had noticed a few things. Naruto _always_ looked down when around other people, meaning he wasn't that direct when it came to dealing with people or didn't have experience. He constantly smoothed his hood down with glove-covered hands – his fingers looked thin through the gloves, a sign of malnutrition. He trembled constantly, probably scared all the time. Naruto took a step backwards and then forwards every now and then, to regain balance.

Naruto's clothing also said things about himself. A black jacket/hoodie with the sleeves cut off at the elbows, very dark grey bandages covering the rest of his arms and black gloves. Light grey T-shit exposing itself, probably a size larger than he was, showing the bottom of the shirt from under the jacket/hoodie. Long black shorts going just below his knees, dark grey bandages covering the exposed parts of his shins, and short black leather boots, like the kind of boots bandits used for stealth. Anko had yet to see his face or neck, his hood and constant looking at the ground while slouching covered his head and neck.

Anko assumed Naruto would probably try to blend into the shadows, being uncomfortable around people. The very dark clothing with slight changes in shades made the clothing perfect for blending into dark areas. Probably a stealth and assassination expert. The bandages indicated bruising or past injuries, so Naruto was probably at least able to hold his own in taijutsu. However, Anko suspected taijutsu wasn't his actual strength. Yes, unknown to many, stealth and taijutsu could combine and form a very deadly combination. But still, this boy seemed to shy away from any form of physical contact.

Sighing to herself, Anko was getting frustrated at his refusal to introduce himself. She knew he could talk, since he was whispering to himself earlier before she revealed herself. Putting her hand on her shoulder to get his attention, Anko spoke up again.

"Introduce yourself."

Naruto looked up suddenly and violent jerked away, stumbling backwards a few steps.

Anko barely caught what he said, just barely picking up on his scratchy yet quiet voice.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto."

Deadpanning, Anko looked at Naruto with a strange expression. "I said introduce yourself. I already know your name, brat. Tell me what you like, what you don't like, hobbies, specialties, and so on."

Taking a deep breath and shuddering, Naruto spoke up slightly louder this time.

"I like cleanliness and order… I dislike everything else. I read in spare time…"

Naruto hoped that would get her to shut up. This woman was scary. Despite wearing provocative clothing, this woman reeked of death. The occasional snake showing its head from the sleeves of her trench coat freaked him out. Snakes were dirty and vile creatures, using their poison to kill. Poison was not clean in any way, at least to his knowledge.

Anko sweat dropped, not that Naruto noticed. Well, he might have noticed, but he didn't show it. This kid was _very_ anti-social. Most eleven-year-old children were loud and obnoxious, or shy and reserved. But never this shy and reserved.

Plus, Anko had noted the dead body of the Chuunin earlier when she arrived. Anko figured it was time to ask about that.

"That's… great, Naruto. What's with the dead body over there?" Anko pointed behind Naruto to the other side of the roof, directly at Mizuki's dead body.

"He was going to kill me. _They_ told me so. _They_ said I had to kill him. So, I did."

His voice was much clearer this time. Slightly quieter, yes, but clearer. Less scratchy. Almost as if he was in a trance when he said it.

Great. A potential sociopath with schizophrenia. Just great.

A few months had passed since the incident on the academy rooftop.

Anko could safely say Naruto had improved by leaps and bounds. When the Hokage had asked her to give a review on Naruto's skillset, Anko gave him her best description. The boy had low Genin taijutsu, close to Chuunin level ninjutsu, and slightly above Chuunin level genjutsu overall. The boy could hold his own in taijutsu until back-up arrived, but he wouldn't last long in a direct taijutsu fight. His ninjutsu was complicated.

Naruto was able to form what Anko had dubbed "Dark Ice" due to its odd coloration. The boy created his own weapons, generally senbon made of ice or a mix between a chokuto and a tanto. Naruto had the ability to create mist and masterfully use the "Hiding in the Mist" jutsu that so many Kiri ninja were known for. His ability to ever so slowly drag it in made it seem natural. Using the mist, Naruto was also able to make it float above an area like clouds and make it "rain."

Most people wouldn't understand the significance of being able to make it rain, but when you realized it, it was impressive. Rain usually made an area darker, making it ideal for stealth specialists. Nobody questioned rain either, since rain wasn't a genjutsu. It was real. Rain also made the earth sludgy, or muddy. Mud was easy to dig through and place traps and cover the traps up to make it look natural.

Naruto's genjutsu skills were impressive for a Genin. He was able to turn completely invisible or turn into a solid object. Despite what one may think, it wasn't always aggressive genjutsu that could get you killed. There was the other type of genjutsu: passive genjutsu. Passive genjutsu was usually ignored in favor of the more aggressive and flashier genjutsu, making it very uncommon and very underestimated. Noise canceling genjutsu, invisibility genjutsu, shape shifting genjutsu, genjutsu that could blend shadows, and "stalker" genjutsu. "Stalker" genjutsu would make you see somebody or something running just out of the edge of your vision, barely noticeable. But it did wonders to an enemy.

The enemy would become paranoid and jumpy. The number of mistakes they made were exponentially increased when they became paranoid and jumpy. Their teammates would think that the target was crazy or just seeing things, and distrust would form. It would burn bridges in trust and teamwork, ultimately getting the team killed.

Anko was quite prideful when she told the Hokage about Naruto's progress in poisons and toxins. Sadly, he never listened when it came to slow killing toxins or poisons, but he was a genius when it came to finding ways to quickly kill with a poison. Naruto had started to try to learn how to cover his ice senbon in the stuff before he threw it, to not only poison the target but also cause an immediate injury. Nobody expected an _ice needle_ to poison them.

Oh yes, Anko was quite proud of Naruto's progress.

His mental progress, however, was worrying.

He never talked much. Even being around Anko for four months hadn't gotten him to open up very much. Granted, he talked _slightly_ more than he used to, but he never talked unless talked to and when he did it was short and direct.

Anko could safely say that Naruto was a sociopath with schizophrenia and a severe case of OCD.

Things would be interesting.

A/N Section

And done.

This, overall, took maybe an hour and a half to do with a lot of breaks in-between.

I write only when I am either bored or in a certain mind-set.

However, I will try to upload anywhere between one or two times a month.


	4. Chapter 4

_They_ said that he could manipulate his ice further. The mist he could make could be used to manipulate his ice. Naruto had a theory that he could make tiny bits of ice and use them in mass. The flexibility that the tiny bits of ice would have would make it so he could perform new attacks.

Naruto looked up from his book about water manipulation and the basics of the hidden mist jutsu. Reviewing and mastering the basics could allow for further progression. Naruto held out a hand and pushed chakra into it.

Little bits of ice slowly appeared, floating, above his palm. The tiny bits of ice slowly grew in number, slowly swirling around in the air. Naruto tried to rush it a little bit more, to speed up the process, but the ice still moved slowly.

Suddenly, a voice broke his concentration.

"How's it going, brat?"

Anko's voice startled Naruto. The particles of ice stopped swirling around and fell from the air, landing on Naruto's palm or falling to the ground. He turned and looked at his sensei.

Grinning, Anko gave Naruto a thumbs-up. "Let's have a quick spar, ok?"

Naruto careful closed the book in his lap and set it off to the side, where it wouldn't be damaged. Standing up, Naruto's back made a few cracking and popping noises. He turned around fully to face Anko and then jumped backwards.

A snake burst from the ground right behind Naruto, attempting to bite him in the back of his thigh. Quickly, Naruto jumped up, brining his knees to his chest as he spun around. He threw three senbon at Anko as he spun, before landing on the snake's head, killing it.

Rushing forwards, Anko pulled her fist back to punch Naruto, but Naruto only leapt back further and into a tree. Quickly making a hand sign, Naruto slowly rippled, becoming transparent.

Smiling sadistically, Anko pulled out a kunai and twirled it around. "You know brat, if you really wanted to get the drop on me… you have a long way to go!"

Spinning around, Anko quickly deflected a needle of ice aimed at her back.

She had to give it to the brat, he was good with stealth. Naruto was stealthy enough to remain hidden, even with Anko actively searching for signs of the boy. She'd have to wait for him to make a move. When he did, that would be when he revealed his position.

Naruto made no noise when he moved. He chose spots to walk on that wouldn't leave a footprint, or at least a noticeable one. But there was one thing that gave his general spot away.

The overwhelmingly strong scent of cleaning detergent gave away his general location. Somehow, even after going through the training he has gone through, he managed to always smell like cleaning detergent. The scent was strong enough that it could make your eyes water.

Turning to her left, Anko launched a barrage of kunai and shuriken. The scent had spiked there before vanishing for a moment. Naruto had probably jumped backwards and moved around in a wider and larger circle to throw Anko off the scent.

Sitting in a tree, Naruto quietly used a kunai to cut open a small part of the tree and let the sap run out. Taking the sap, grimacing, he started to rub it on himself to get rid of the scent of cleaning detergent. He felt absolutely and utterly _filthy_ with the tree sap on him.

Quickly, Naruto pulled out four kunai and pushed a wire through the loops of the kunai. Pulling out a few pulleys, he started tweaking it and the wire. Shortly after, the pulleys were connected to the wires, which were tied around the kunai.

Jumping off the tree, Naruto launched himself right at Anko.

Hearing the subtle shift in air, Anko spun and raised one arm to block any attack while throwing a snake upwards at Naruto.

The boy spun, barely dodging the snake, but he threw the kunai at Anko. He'd have to hurry with his plan with his chakra running out slowly. He didn't have much left.

Anko deflected one kunai and side-stepped, avoiding the other three. Suddenly, Naruto's Genjutsu he cast on himself wore off, revealing his position. Grinning once more, Anko jumped up at him and pulled her right arm back for a punch. Naruto spun around so his feet met Anko's fist and used the momentum to launch himself almost directly upwards once again.

Twisting his fingers, wires wrapped around his fingers became visible, and a spinning noise was heard. Anko turned and blocked the four kunai that had come flying up behind her with a kunai. Quickly, she slashed at the wires connecting the kunai to Naruto, letting gravity take control and bring the kunai down to earth.

Naruto held out his hand, his signature chokuto/tanto hybrid weapon forming in his hand, and summersaulted mid-air towards Anko. Anko held up a kunai, staggering a little from the force that momentum and gravity had given Naruto, as his blade met the kunai.

Anko grabbed Naruto's arm, tugging harshly, and slammed him into the ground. He landed with a harsh thud, bouncing slightly upwards. Slowly, he turned so his stomach was on the ground and tried to push upwards weakly. His arms gave out and he face-planted into the dirt.

Sighing, Anko figured she went a bit fair with that last attack.

Hiruzen sighed. The meeting with both the Shinobi and Civilian councils was a pain in his ass. It always was. But this particular one was worse than normal. He held up his hand to silence the random chattering around the room.

With all attention on him now, he spoke.

"As you all know, 12 years ago the Kyuubi attacked. It killed many good men and women, even the Fourth Hokage."

People looked back and forth among each other, wondering what brought this on and where Hiruzen was taking it.

"As you know, the Fourth sealed the Kyuubi into a child. His name is Uzumaki Naruto." Hiruzen's voice was unusually grim.

Somebody in the room muttered, "I still don't get why we didn't kill the brat."

Ignoring the comment, Hiruzen continued.

"However, none of you have realized something. Something… crucial. He is not the monster you made him out to be. Because of the isolation you exiled him to, his mental and emotional health took a dive. Leaving a young child alone with the Fox Demon is an idiotic thing to do."

A few people in the room rolled their eyes. One even stood up.

"And? That's not my problem. That's his problem to deal with. That's his _job_ after all."

"SILENCE!" Hiruzen snarled at the man. The man sat back down and shrunk into his seat. "It may have been his job… but do you realize what that does to a child?"

The room was silent.

"He was still a normal child, just scared and isolated. The demon inside him tortured him without end. We have reason to believe that it still does. Because of this, Naruto soon exiled himself. He shut himself up in his apartment that was given to him, leaving only the comfort of books and the torture of the demon."

Breathing in, Hiruzen forced himself to take a deep breath to calm down.

"Soon… he developed an extreme case of OCD and schizophrenia. Now, we are dealing with a schizophrenic sociopath that could eventually decide the fate of our village. Now think. THINK! Think about what he could have been if he wasn't isolated. What would happen? Come on, speak up."

A shinobi stood, raising his hand. Hiruzen nodded towards the man, urging him to speak up.

"He would have been brought up with the rest of us – perhaps without these issues, or at least with access to help, and thus would be closer to Konoha and not as much of a potential threat."

Hiruzen nodded, and the man sat back down.

"Spot on. He would have developed a love for Konoha. Currently, he has no love for Konoha. However, even before this, all of this could have been avoided through the actions of one person. Uzumaki Kushina."

Murmurs filled the room, only to be silenced once more by the Hokage.

"Uzumaki Naruto is the son of Uzumaki Kushina. They don't look the slightest alike, sure, but the DNA test has proven that Kushina is the mother of Naruto. Yes, you all believe she died, but she didn't. Uzumaki Kushina abandoned her son."

"Well duh, she realized the monster that was once her son." A brown-haired woman stood, giving Hiruzen a look.

Another snarl got her to shut up and sit down.

Hiruzen inhaled deeply once more to calm himself. Then he motioned for a figure to come out of the shadows.

They did so and pulled their hood down, revealing one of the very people Hiruzen was talking about. Kushina leveled a glare on all the people in the room.

Hiruzen held his hand up to silence people right as they started talking. "Kushina has been called back to Konoha to perform a task. To teach young Uzumaki Naruto how to create chakra chains, to settle him into his role as the host of the Fox Demon, and as preparations for the up-coming war between us and Kumogakure."

Kushina then chose that time to speak up. "That… creature… was once my son, and I have since realized that. However… my lack of action has ruined any chance that he could have been my son. He is now, truly, a monster and nothing I do can stop that. I am merely here to fulfill my duty to Konoha."

Naruto leapt through the trees with his sensei, Anko. The mission was simple. Kill the leader of a small group of bandits. Nightfall had fallen hours ago, but he had refused to stop to rest and sleep.

He wouldn't need the sleep anyways. He just wanted to get the mission over with and get back to his apartment.

Arriving upon the camp of bandits, Naruto took a moment to observe. The layout was simple with small tents scattered here and there with a big tent in the middle of the scattered tents. That big tent most likely belonged to the leader of the bandits. Quickly, Naruto used his invisibility genjutsu and dropped to the ground.

Stealthily, he made his way to the main tent, stepping around dead fires and drunken bandits. Gently, he opened the tent flap and snuck in.

He could feel the cool earth through his thin leader boots – the leather was quite thin for a reason. Thin leather was perfect for stealth specialists. Leather made little to no noise, if tightly bound. It didn't protect the feet very well, but just barely enough that it worked.

Slowly, he went through a series of hand-signs. He had been wanting to test this new technique on a human, and now was his first chance.

Naruto held his hand over the open mouth of the drunken snoring bandit leader. Slowly, ice senbon formed in his other hand. Suddenly, he clapped his hand down on the man's mouth while striking with the senbon.

The needle was positioned so it hit the back of the man's neck, paralyzing him, so Naruto could perform his technique and study the effects of it.

The man's eyes shot wide open, panic clear as day as he tried to struggle. However, he couldn't move while Naruto quickly chopped the man's throat. Naruto pulled his hands away and quickly flashed through more hand-signs and then held out his right hand.

A blank, inky substance floated above his hand, rippling in the air. Gripping the jaw of the man with his left hand, Naruto opened the man's mouth and slapped his right hand over the mouth of the man.

He was trying to suffocate the man with sentient ink.

The man made little noise as he choked on the ink being shoved down his throat. He tried to spit it up or even swallow the ink – anything that would stop it from blocking his windpipe. Slowly, the ink dripped down to the lungs of the man and suddenly became sticky enough to latch onto the lungs, so it couldn't be coughed up.

Naruto removed his hand and watched the man, waiting to see if it would work.

Anko sighed as she and Naruto traveled back towards Konoha.

Sure, she loved the sadism behind the method used to kill the bandit leader, but…

Glancing over at the hooded boy, Anko grimaced. Sure, she herself had killed people in equally bad ways, sometimes making it even worse. But she did it because it was fun to torture enemy ninja. It just wasn't worth it on bandits or people who weren't trained.

Yet Naruto did it without showing emotion. Sure, fear was still heavily prominent in his eyes, but that was normal. What wasn't normal was reacting how he did for one of his first kills. That one had been his second kill, ever.

Both of Naruto's kills had been in cold blood. Yes, that's how most kills are, but still… this one felt different. Something struck Anko as wrong. The entire thing seemed off.

Granted, she would do her best to see to it that Naruto ended up in a mental institution, but she knew that the council would stop her. The Shinobi council, even if they realized what was wrong with the boy, they'd keep him merely for his abilities. They would have tried to use Naruto as a breeding factory, to create shinobi with a new bloodline, but he was the demon child. Almost nobody would go near the demon child willingly. Thus, he had been left alone.

But sooner or later, something would happen.

Whether or not he ended up in a mental institution was set in stone – he would end up in one. The question was _when_ he would be put in one.

Naruto stood 10 meters away from Anko. It had been almost exactly one week since their last mission was completed – killing the leader of a small group of bandits – and Anko insisted that Naruto learn better taijutsu.

So Anko had taught Naruto a basic form of taijutsu. Not a common one, for sure, but not well known either.

What people didn't know often killed them.

This spar, as soon as it began, would require Naruto to put the technique to practice. He crouched low; arms held out to his sides just barely enough to help him maintain balance but also quickly put up a guard. He shifted so his feet were slightly farther apart to maximize the movement of the technique whilst slightly leaning forwards. Anko had told him it wasn't a very good technique, but it would work well enough if learned properly.

Anko made the first move, sprinting towards Naruto, right fist raised and cocked backwards, left hand held in front of her with the palm facing Naruto.

Quickly, Naruto pushed a small amount of chakra into his legs to bounce backwards once and then leap forwards, slightly thrusting his knees forwards to help build momentum. Naruto twisted into a horizontal spin, mid-air, and kicked outwards to meet Anko's fist. Anko's closed fist opened, grabbing Naruto's leg and pulling him towards her, and slammed her palm into his gut before throwing him away from her.

Landing with a thud, Naruto recovered faster than he used to and quickly got back into form. This time, instead of waiting for Anko to make the first move, he raised himself slightly from the ground and, pumping small amounts of chakra into his legs, he closed the gap between himself and Anko quickly.

Ducking low, Anko let out a sweeping kick, attempting to launch Naruto away from herself, only for Naruto to jump upwards and pull his legs under himself. This made him a smaller target, he supposed, but then re-focused. Suddenly, he spun diagonally and kicked at Anko, his heel hitting her in the shoulder.

However, the Jounin stood unfazed and, once again, slammed her palm into his gut, launching him across the clearing.

This time, instead of landing harshly, Naruto rolled as he hit the ground. Sure, it hurt, but not as bad as it would have hurt if he didn't roll to recover.

_They_ suddenly started screaming, the noise slamming against the insides of his head. Naruto fell backwards, barely avoiding an axe kick from Anko, and gripped his hair as he barely held in his screams. Anko stood up straight, watching as Naruto writhed on the ground in pain.

Anko cursed and knew she'd have to get the Hokage to re-apply the seal again. She pulled out a syringe from her trench coat and injected Naruto with it, knocking him out.

Unbeknownst to Anko, a pair of purple eyes watched from the shadows under a tree.

A/N Section

Yeah

I did that.

Deal with it.


	5. Chapter 5

SOOOO

Yeah, I pulled a sneaky on you.

*Puts on cool guy glasses* "Deal with it" *Does funky dance*

Anyways, time for some actual news – I have decided that WE *grins like a maniac* shall take a dive into Naruto's mindscape! Or whatever the fuck it's called… damn, I need more caffeine… and probably some sleep, since I haven't slept in a few days, but SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK GOD FUCKING DAMMIT

Yeet

Inoichi sighed. While yes, Anko's request had been 100% reasonable, he just didn't want to look around Naruto's mindscape. He was about to say no, until he remembered that it was his job to look around in people's mindscapes.

Currently, he stood before a room that the boy was contained in. Pushing open the iron door, the hinges screeching painfully, Inoichi saw Naruto restrained on a table. The treatment people received in this place was a bit… harsh, certainly, but it was necessary. Shaking his head, he walked up to the table.

As he got closer, he realized that Naruto must've been sedated. Pushing back the boy's hood, Inoichi performed a few hand-signs and put his hands on Naruto's head.

Suddenly, Inoichi wasn't in an interrogation room in the hidden T&I building. He was in a large forest, of sorts.

The sky was dark, a thin layer of mist covering the seemingly dead forest. All the trees in the forest looked dead, black, but somehow not burnt. Grey looking grass waved slightly in the wind that came from everywhere and yet nowhere at once. Walking cautiously, Inoichi noticed something dripping off the trees into small black puddles.

Walking towards one, he crouched down and dipped his finger in it, bringing it up to his nose.

Ink.

The trees were dripping ink.

Shuddering, Inoichi stood and calmed himself down before wandering off to explore. He needed to find the _core_ – the central part of the human mind. Once he found the core, he could probe and test the memories through Naruto's view.

What most people didn't know was that, when living through another person's memories, you felt everything they felt, thought everything they thought, and so on.

Slowly, a lake came into view.

Wanting to know, Inoichi crouched once more and dipped his finger in the lake. He brought up his finger once again, and the scent of ink attacked his nose. Standing and wiping the ink off, Inoichi noticed a cave with an eerie presence radiating from it.

Cautiously, Inoichi stepped on the lake. The ink seemed to solidify under his feet, supporting his weight as he shifted more of it onto the ink.

Bouncing up and down slightly to see if it would support his full weight, plus some, he made his way across the lake and towards the cave. Reaching the cave, Inoichi braced himself, and walked in. Ink dripped from the rocky ceiling above him, a drop of ink hit his shoulder. However, Inoichi didn't notice that. He noticed the temperature dropping.

As Inoichi walked farther into the cave, he heard whispering. He hadn't noticed that before. Soon, the cave gave way to a huge rocky room, the ceiling farther up than Inoichi could see, trace amounts of mist blocking his vision.

The whispering grew louder as he slowly walked into the room.

Then his eyes adjusted, and what he saw shocked him.

There were giant bird cages littering the rocky room, some hanging from the ceiling, others resting on the ground, and some broken with the metal bars bent out of place. Then he saw Naruto.

Naruto sat in one of the cages, knees pulled up to his chest, rocking back and forth as he whispered to himself. Above the cage, a light grey sign came into view with the word "Paranoia" written in ink. Ink dripped from the word, as if it were still wet, sometimes landing on Naruto.

Inoichi called out for Naruto, but the boy didn't answer. Sighing, Inoichi walked closer to the cage. Then he noticed a couple of other cages… with Naruto in each and every one of them.

A different sign hung above each cage.

Fear. Anger. Sadness. Happiness. Disgust. Pride. Hate. Envy. Bloodlust. Every emotion or feeling possible had their on cage with a Naruto in it.

Each Naruto sat – or stood – in a posture that represented each sign above their cage.

The Naruto in Fear screeched and wailed, hands banging against the iron bars of the cage, tears streaming down his face. The Naruto in Anger shouted and barked at the one in Fear, cursing at it and telling it to shut up. A glare rested upon his face. The Naruto under Sadness lay on the ground, sobbing, muttering incoherent sentences.

Each Naruto acted the way their sign said they would… all except one. Happiness.

That Naruto hung suspended in the air by chains, beaten and bloody, broken.

Briefly, Inoichi noticed that each cage was arranged in such a way that all the cages centered around one area. A giant puddle of ink.

There, in the middle of that puddle of ink, stood a nine-tailed fox made of ink. The tails waved around in the misty and thick air slowly, dripping ink every now and then. Suddenly, a pair of pale blue eyes opened. The eyes glowed unnaturally, reminding Inoichi that nothing about this place was natural.

Above the fox hung yet another giant bird-cage. The sign above it was "Indifference".

That Naruto stood straight and still in the middle of his cave, looking off into the distance at nothing. His fingers tapped at his side impatiently.

Suddenly, the Naruto under Indifference spoke up.

"What brings you here, mind-walker?"

Inoichi regained his bearings and replied, "I have come to inspect your mindscape, Naruto. Tell me, why are each of these cages listed with an emotion and one of you in it?"

Waiting for an answer, Inoichi watched as the ink Nine-tailed fox stood still, pale blue eyes still glowing.

"Order must be maintained. The original was defective, broken. And so, the Demon split him apart into Us. We rule over this body, second only to the Demon itself. This body is a vessel for ours – and the Demons – bidding, doing as is commanded. In order to maintain balance and order, we must be split apart." Naruto said, his monotone voice sending chills down Inoichi's spine.

Inoichi nodded slowly, trying to view the bigger picture. But he needed more information.

"Tell me more. Why does this splitting maintain order and balance, as you put it?"

Naruto's monotone voice filled the air once more, briefly making Inoichi notice that all other noises in the cave had ceased, with exception to the noise of ink dripping from the ceiling and hitting the rocks below.

"We are the council. The Demon gives us orders, and the council decides how it shall be done. Failure to do as the Demon commands will be met with punishment. As a council, each of Us argue on what to do, with me as the final judge choosing which course of action would be the best. It is only after this manner that we can maintain order. Without this system, we would be as useless and defective as the original himself."

"What happened to the original?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"The Demon found out about the original and his defectiveness, his uselessness, and punished him. In the process, We were created." Inoichi noticed that Naruto emphasized anything that referred to the "council". Words such as "We" and "Us" were emphasized.

"Where is the original?"

The inky fox demon below the central cave emitted a low growling sound, but Naruto still answered, cautious lacing his voice.

"He has been contained within the _core_, where the Demon can keep an eye on him at all times and personally guard the _core_ to ensure that the original cannot escape."

A pale blue glow emitted from the large puddle of ink below the Nine-tailed fox, revealing a large pale blue sphere buried deep inside. Inside the sphere, what Inoichi assumed was the original, a Naruto floated in place, seemingly unconscious. Something seemed to swim around the outside of the pale blue sphere, but Inoichi couldn't make out what it was.

Looking back up, Inoichi glanced to the cage that was labeled "Happiness".

"What happened to him?"

"He rebelled against the Demon, and so, he was punished."

Inoichi knew what to do in this sort of situation. This type of situation was quite rare… for a person this young. However, it often manifested in the minds of broken ANBU, the variation depending on the person. But each one was roughly the same.

You needed to negotiate with the _Judge_, the one in control, in order to gain access to almost anything.

Sometimes, the _Judge_ would grant you access if you merely requested it. Other times, the _Judge _would either present a challenge, or a requirement, to access to anything. Sometimes, the _Judge_ would flat out deny you access to anything or to certain areas, such as memories, emotions, or knowledge.

Inoichi stood still, debating on what to do.

The _Judge_ acted as a gate-keeper, a guardian, a sentinel, who had the purpose of running everything and keeping watch over the mindscape to defend it from intruders, such as Inoichi. But sometimes the _Judge_ would be merciful and allow the mind-walker free access to roam the mindscape.

"I request access to your memories."

The Naruto in the cage labeled "Indifference" narrowed his eyes once more, a slight pale-blue glow coming from his eyes. He looked over to the cage labeled "Anger" and then back to Inoichi.

"I will grant you access under one condition."

Two large iron doors rose, slowly, from the depths of the giant ink puddle below the cage. Two smaller inky Nine-tailed demon foxes stood, each one in front of a different door.

"One of them only lies and the other only tells the truth. You may only ask one question of each before you make your decision. One of these doors leads to Our memories while the other leads to a pit of eternal darkness and pain, where you will be trapped forever if you choose incorrectly."

Walking up to the ink foxes, Inoichi considered his options.

He had to come up with something that could reveal the lying one, and thus the one that leads to the pit of eternal darkness, so that he could take the other path.

"Is there a cage above us with a sign that says "Indifference" above it?"

One of the inky foxes blinked, it's pale blue eyes still glowing.

"No."

"Yes."

Inoichi turned to the one that said "Yes" and walked towards it.

"I choose this door."

The iron door opened inwards, away from Inoichi, creaking as it opened, revealing a long and dark hallway.

The hallway was padded, like the padded cells of the insane, with various iron doors on each side. The padding was torn in places, leaking ink, while the ceiling seemed to be made entirely of ink, swirling slowly but somehow not dropping to the ground.

Inoichi steeled himself and walked into the hallway. He opened the nearest iron door and peered inside, showing Naruto's oldest memory.

_A two year old Naruto sat on a bed in an empty and grim room, the walls painted grey. There were no windows, nothing to reveal what time it was._

_The room was literally empty – no closet, no desk, not one bit of furniture except for a small and worn down bed. The door to the room was wooden, light in color, but pale. It appeared to be in poor condition._

_Naruto turned around and slid himself off the bed and walked towards the door, reaching out to push it. After a few minutes of pushing on the door, Naruto realized the door opened inwards and looked for a door-handle to turn, or something to let him out of the room._

_There was no handle._

_Stumbling backwards, Naruto fell into a sitting position and stared at the door, not bothering to get up._

_He looked down at himself – he wore a simple over-sized white T-shirt and black shorts. Both were in tatters. He turned to look behind him, at the bed, but noticed it was just a mattress. No blanket or pillow. Not even sheets._

_Naruto turned back around and pulled his knees up to his chest, a sob threatening to escape._

_Tears streamed down his cheeks, which he quickly wiped away, as he realized something._

_He was all alone._

Stepping backwards, away from the door, Inoichi closed it and shook his head.

Hours had passed before Inoichi exited Naruto's mindscape.

He looked around the room he was in, the sudden light making him squint. Naruto's mindscape was dark – both literally and figuratively.

Turning, he saw Anko behind him, arms crossed and impatiently chewing on a stick of dango.

Anko walked towards the door, opened it, and left the room. Inoichi followed her and closed the door behind him.

"So, how is he?"

Inoichi sighed. "He should have been put into an institution and given loads of therapy long ago."

Anko pulled the stick out of her mouth that she had been chewing on and fiddled with it.

"Go on."

"It's run by a _Judge_ and council of his emotions. Apparently, the emotions act as a council that run him that follow the Fox's orders. I'd say this manifested back when he was four, maybe five. Hard to tell from the view of a small child."

Taking a short break, Inoichi inhaled deeply. "He's a sociopath, no doubt, with multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, and a very severe case of OCD and scopophobia. If the war with Kumo hadn't just begun, I'd suggest that he be hospitalized and given therapy immediately. However, given that his skill-set is needed, or will be needed… all we can do is wait."

Anko smacked a wall. "Shit."

Inoichi nodded.

The woman turned back towards Inoichi. "Not to mention, problems just got worse. Uzumaki Kushina is still alive… that bitch. She's back and is supposed to train Naruto, her son, in chakra manipulation and shaping. That's going to make something go wrong… more than it already has. That bitch should have died when she was supposed to die."

Inoichi stood still, eyes wide.

"W-wait… she's alive?"

A chilling voice announced the presence of another person right behind Inoichi as it whispered into his ear.

"Yes, I'm alive."

A/N Section

You'll note that this chapter was posted RIGHT AFTER the previous chapter, instead of a week to a few weeks after.

Two updates in one day, huh?

Lucky for you.

ANYWAYS, I wanted to spice things up. You see, while YES, I do have a plan for the story, it isn't… exact, per se. I have a general idea of where I'm going to go with the story and certain events along the way that have been pre-planned… the rest of it, the finer details, are made up along the way.

I have the attention span of a Goldfish. Anyways (once again) I don't want to be "normal" in my story. Most Naruto fanfics, even the insane ones, depict the mindscape as a sewer, generally in poor condition. I wanted this one to give a more… eerie feeling when you picture it in your mind. I mean, come on, a sewer isn't that creepy. But a big-ass cave, giant bird cages, ink creatures, and multiple people in one mindscape? Now THAT actually gives me the chills.

Before I go, I have two more things to say.

Many people don't seem to know the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath, for whatever reason. A PSYCHOPATH is born that way – no change in events will stop them from being a psychopath. A SOCIOPATH becomes what they are after they are born via some event or a chain of events. Usually these events are traumatic in one way or another, and thus it permanently changes the person from who they used to be.

Finally, for those of you who don't know, scopophobia is the fear of being watched. I myself actually have this… I hate being watched, and I feel like I'm watched all the time, even if I'm completely alone in a room in an empty house.

Anyways, enough chit-chat. If you have questions, feel free to leave a review or send me a DM and I will answer pretty quickly. I will do my best to answer any and all the questions you have unless it contains a spoiler… at which point I will tell you that it would spoil the story and that you'll find out later on. Cya!


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